Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I buckle her into the seat before getting into the front seat. I drive with extra care to the office, and when I pull into the parking lot, I see she’s fallen asleep. I grab my purse before taking her out of her seat. Her head falls on my shoulder as I carry her to the elevator, then look around to see Caine isn’t back yet. I rub Meadow’s back softly as I wait for the elevator. My phone beeps, telling me my order has arrived.
Before I ran out of here, I made an order for some soup, along with some ginger ale, Gatorade, and saltines. Walking into the elevator, I’m happy no one else gets in with me, and when I walk toward Caine’s office, Loren comes out of hers. “I still can’t get ahold of him. I even called Jaret and Vinny, and no one is picking up the phone.”
“It was a huge meeting,” I say, walking into Caine’s office and toward the couch, sitting down with Meadow sleeping on me.
The minute I sit down, she stirs in my arms, sitting up and looking around. “Hi.” I smile at her, touching her forehead. “How are you feeling?” I don’t have a chance to say anything else because two things happen at the same time.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Caine’s voice booms through the office as he glares at me.
“I don’t feel good,” Meadow says right before she projectile vomits all over me.
ten
Caine
“What the fuck is going on here?” My voice comes out louder than I want it to be. I have no idea what the fuck is going on. All I know is my daughter is in my office instead of at the daycare where I left her this morning.
“Caine,” Loren says my name softly, and I should take a second and ask what is going on, but my heart is beating out of my chest for two reasons. One, my daughter is in the arms of a woman she doesn’t even know. Second, she’s in a woman’s arms, and she’s never been in anyone’s arms but mine.
The babysitter sure as fuck doesn’t sit down and cuddle her. Not even my mother has cuddled her the way she is, making me feel things I shouldn’t. “I don’t feel good,” Meadow says right before she projectile vomits all over Grace, who sits there, not doing anything. As if having my kid vomit on her is just another part of her day. The woman has weaseled her way into my life, and now she has my child sitting on her lap.
“Oh my God,” Loren gasps, putting her hand on her mouth while I rush to grab Meadow away from Grace.
I pluck her off Grace. “Give me my daughter,” I hiss at her before turning and rushing her into my private bathroom. “Are you okay, honey?”
“I don’t feel good,” she repeats as I walk over and turn on the water in the sink, putting her down on her feet.
“Are you going to throw up again?” I ask, wetting a washcloth with the water before I wipe her mouth. She shakes her head as I wet another one to wash her face. “You feel a little warm,” I tell her. “Did they give you some medicine at school?”
“No,” she mumbles as I squat in front of her. She walks into my open legs and lays her head on my chest. “I’m thirsty.”
“Okay, baby,” I soothe, getting up and walking out of the room. I don’t know why, but my eyes scan the room to see if Grace is still here. She’s not, though. She is nowhere to be found. On the other hand, Loren is there, and she’s spraying some mist in the room.
“Oh, hey,” she says when she turns around. “How is Meadow?”
“She’s thirsty,” I state, putting my hand in my pocket as Loren walks over to the brown bag on my desk.
“I have something.” She opens the bag. “There is Gatorade, some ginger ale, a couple of juice boxes.” The minute she says that I look down at the floor.
“I want juice,” Meadow declares, and Loren just looks at me, and I nod.
“We’ll sit for a bit to drink the juice and see if you’re okay,” I tell Meadow as she walks over to the couch where she was just sitting with Grace. I can’t help but picture them again, and my hands get tight when I do.
Meadow gets on the couch and holds out her hands for the juice. Loren smiles at her, handing it to her. “Careful,” Loren cautions, “don’t squeeze it, or else it’ll spill all over you.”
“Okay,” she says softly, grabbing the juice.
“Can you explain to me why my daughter is here?” I ask quietly.
“The daycare called, said they tried to call you many times, but you didn’t answer,” she explains, her voice low. I pull out my phone from my pocket, seeing I have five missed calls from the daycare and one missed call from Nash.